Abstract
In this article, I seek to problematize Erich Fromm’s critique of the culture of contemporary capitalism. To this end, I especially review, but not only, one of his main mature works, the book The Sane Society, in which the author establishes his analytical project of a “humanistic psychoanalysis”. In the first part, the article reconstructs, through the idea of a “pathology of normalcy”, Fromm’s critique of the cultural foundations of contemporary capitalism. In the second part, this reconstruction is carried forward through the concepts of “social character” and “alienation”, to understand how the late capitalism of the 20h century deepens as never before an anti-humanistic culture. In the conclusion, I argue that Fromm’s work can be of great value in understanding both the individual and collective problems of today.
Keywords
Erich Fromm; pathology of normalcy; social character; alienation; capitalism